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‘Coffee’ listed as a viable LinkedIn skill

Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

The blends, the beans, the flavors, the aromas, the creamers, the mugs, the always-appreciated jolts of caffeine, the quirky baristas, the eclectic cafés, the ridiculous names Starbucks gives to its various drink sizes, not to mention simply the way it just makes me feel: I could go on and on tallying the wondrous things about my dearest friend, coffee, without ever fully capturing my fondness for it.

The same can’t be said, however, of the number of LinkedIn users that list java as a viable job skill—a whopping 161,000 profiles reportedly tout coffee in their online résumés. Esquire took to the professional social network to seek out the specifics of how jobseekers are getting even more mileage from their morning mud. The real question, though: how many are PR pros?

While applicants might hope their aptitude for coffee at least gets them a foot in the door, once the interview begins, they’re on their own. Nowhere was this truer than the offices of Heineken, where a branding stunt gave trainee candidates more than they could have ever prepared for (via Guerrilla Blog):

The hiring tables were turned for one would-be filmmaker who posted a Craigslist ad in search of the Chupacabra of all professional screenwriters. The ad prompted an equally ridiculous classified that claimed to be looking for a professional director. Read both of the outrageous job descriptions on BuzzFeed.

Meanwhile, it seems the United States Post Office (USPS) and Google have aspirations of a career in fashion. Business Insider reports that the USPS plans to earn extra money selling its own line of clothing and apparel; The New York Times informs us that on Wednesday, Google began taking applications to find a small group of people to buy an early version of its new eyewear, Google Glass.

Speaking of Google, we’ve all been subjected to its ridiculous search suggestions a time or two, but I swear, sometimes I feel like it’s not even trying. Either that, or it’s trying too hard. Regardless, just wait until you read the 19 dumbest things Google’s search algorithms and analytics are forced to suggest.

Then again, sometimes the Internet is a delightful place full of happy, helpful people. Certainly, WFMU and the Free Music Archive would attest to this after their recent contest to find a copyright-free alternative to “Happy Birthday” led to the new celebratory ditty featured below. Laughing Squid reports that the winning selection comes from Monk Turner and Fascinoma and is titled “It’s Your Birthday.”

On the other hand, one could easily make the case why a business should copyright everything associated with its brand as soon as possible. This includes domain names, a notion that Guy Fieri recently learned. As Fast Company explains, pranksters bought the rights to a website named after Fieri’s New York City restaurant and this week posted an outlandish and fake menu.

Similarly, a correctional and detention management provider is nabbing headlines for its unusual new naming sponsorship of a Florida school’s football stadium. Reports Businessweek, prison company GEO Group has paid $6 million to put its name on the arena of the Florida Atlantic University Owls.

That would have probably been No. 19 on The Huffington Post’s list of headlines that just need to happen. Instead, it left us with a mere 18.

Although he hasn’t left yet, Help A Reporter Out (HARO) founder Peter Shankman revealed today that he's moving on from his gig at Vocus to “pursue a handful of other fun ideas that have been rattling around my brain for a while now.” Shankman sold HARO to Vocus in 2010, when he also took a position with the company.

Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.